Can any memory cards keep up with the Canon EOS-1D X burst rate?
Asked 6/18/2012
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I’m wondering what memory cards are fast enough for the Canon EOS-1D X, especially if price isn’t a concern. At roughly 20–30 MB per image and up to 12 fps, the camera could generate around 240–360 MB/s of data. If using both card slots, does that split the write load between cards? Are there cards on the market that can sustain this kind of speed, or will the camera still rely on its buffer and eventually slow down during long bursts?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
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Canon 1D X Photo size of this camera should be somewhere in range of 20-30 mb, and with 12 frames per second that sums up to need to write down 300mb/s, or if we consider that the camera has dual card slot, this would amount to 150 mb/s per card (does this work this way?).
Is there anything on market that would sustain such a write speed?
Short: Almost
Longer:
The EOS 1D X has dual CF cards.
Maximum defined CF data transfer rate so far is covered by Revision 6 of the CF standard which was in November 2010 - this added UDMA mode 7 which is rated at 167 MB/s.
What the 1D X will and won't do is still something of a movable feast, but it seems likely that it will offer one or both of dual simultaneous write and interleaved file write options.
IF a CF card capable of maximum UDMA mode 7 was available and IF the camera is able to keep up with dual cards at full speed in interleaved mode, it could write 334 MB/s.
At 12 frames per second that would allow about 334 / 12 = 28+ MB / photo.
MY APSC Sony A77 with 24 megapixels writes 25 megabyte RAW files.
I recall seeing 100 MB/s CF cards announced within the last year. MAY have been LEXAR.
... Gargoyles ...
Yes. Lexar Professional1000X CF - 150 megabytes/second. Available in 16/32/64/128 GB capacities. Hidden in the fine print it says
- Minimum 150MB/s read transfer, write speeds lower.
That is "naughty". I consider that a card,s write speed is it's fair rated speed - that's what the camera cares about when it matters. Looking elsewhere, apparently write speed is 145 MB/s - tolearable :-).
Compact Flash Association - surprisingly low in solid information
XQD:
The Nikon D4 offers dual memory - 1 x CF & 1 x XQD format cards.
Maximum XQD rate so far is 125 MB/s but the card is based on PCIe technology and PCIe 2X and 4X extensions support 250 and 500 MB/s transfers.
Originally by user6263. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user6263
14y ago
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Almost, but not fully in sustained real-world shooting.
The EOS-1D X uses dual CompactFlash slots. The fastest CompactFlash standard of that era was UDMA 7, rated up to 167 MB/s per card. In theory, that means a single card is still below the camera’s possible peak data rate, and even two cards don’t automatically guarantee a perfect split because it depends on how the camera writes: simultaneous backup writing is different from alternating/interleaved writing.
Like other high-speed cameras, the 1D X uses an internal buffer. That buffer absorbs the initial burst, and the camera writes images to the card(s) as fast as it can. Once the buffer fills, the frame rate drops to whatever the card-writing system can sustain.
So the practical answer is: use the fastest UDMA 7 CF cards available for best performance, but don’t expect truly unlimited full-speed bursts. This isn’t unique to the 1D X—most fast cameras depend on the buffer because card speeds lag behind peak image data rates.
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